Syd Barrett, the founding member of Pink Floyd, guitarist, singer and lyricist, has died at the age of 60.

Barrett founded the band in 1965 and was one of its biggest songwriting talents in its early days. But his behaviour became erratic, and he split with the band in 1968.

He had since lived reclusively in Cambridge.

A spokeswoman for Pink Floyd yesterday said: "He died very peacefully a couple of days ago. There will be a private family funeral."

In recent years Barrett reverted to his birth name, Roger Keith Barrett.

He created Pink Floyd with old friend Roger Waters, and became a huge star at the age of 21. But he could hardly perform during his final days with the band, because he was taking so much LSD.

When his drug-fuelled behaviour became too much, the band drafted in Dave Gilmour as guitarist, and decided not to pick Barrett up for gigs.

Waters wrote the song Shine On You Crazy Diamond , with the lyrics "Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun; shine on you crazy diamond; now there's a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky" about the star.

At Live 8, when Pink Floyd reunited without Barrett last year, Waters sang Wish You W ere Here , which was originally a tribute to Barrett.

Barrett is thought to have named the band after two little-known bluesmen Pink Anderson and Floyd Council, as his record collection was f ound to include their recordings.

A statement from Pink Floyd described Barrett as the "guiding light" of the band.

It said: "The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death.

"Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and l eaves a legacy which continues to inspire."

Barrett, who acquired his nickname as a teenager, was born in Cambridge, where he and Waters were classmates at the same school.

He went on to take up a place at London's Camberwell School of Art and alternated his studies with time in an aspiring R&B act.

Barrett wrote most of the songs on Pink Floyd's debut's album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn.

He composed the band's early hit singles Arnold Layne and See Emily Play, but the group's third single, Apples and Oranges , reflected his disintegrating mental state.

As the effect of the drugs took hold, he refused to mime during a tour of the US and walked out of a session recording in July 1967 after "freaking out".

Gilmour once recalled: "He took drugs by the shovelful."

Barrett released three solo albums, The Madcap Laughs, Barrett and Opel.

He later turned his back on the music industry, becoming a hermit, living in Cambridge in his late mother's house.

He shied away from giving interviews after a 1980s drug induced breakdown, and spent his days weeding his plants, painting and living on royalties.

Paying tribute yesterday, David Bowie said: "I can't tell you how sad I feel. Syd was a major inspiration for me.

"The few times I saw him perform in London at UFO a nd the Marquee clubs during the Sixties will forever be etched in my mind.

"He was so charismatic and such a startlingly original songwriter. Also, along with Anthony Newley, he was the first guy I'd heard to sing pop or rock with a British accent.

"His impact on my thinking was enormous. A major regret is that I never got to know him. A diamond indeed."

Former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon has cited Barrett as one of the greatest influences on his career.

He released a statement which read: "Lost him again...for bang on 20 years Syd led me to better places.

" From my agape 17-year-old first listen to Bike to, just the other day, Jugband Blues.

"Languished in his noise... dreamt in his night... stared at his eyes for answers... bent my ears to see his fingers... would have followed him into the dark... certainly followed him into the bleached out morning.

"Syd, dear man, what now? The music is there... a door he left unlocked... spend time there... it's good."